Nightmareland
by Hate being abducted by aliens
Summary: Set during "Dreamland II", my opinion of what could have happened during that Scully and Mulder's conversation in the middle of the desert.


**Author's note:** Hey lovely ones! Well, this story just popped into my mind when I was re-watching "Dreamland II" for like the 10th time. So, it's obviously set during "Dreamland II", exactly when Scully and Mulder (in Fletcher's body...eww) meet in the middle of the desert to have a conversation. Somehow, for me this scene was really meaningful, it said a lot about their true feelings, so I thought that would be a good idea to add a few more lines and actions to it.

**Disclaimer:** Do not own anything.

** My very special thanks to XFoxMuldersGirlX, my beta! Lauren, you're the best!

I really hope you all enjoy it!

R&R? Please?

; )

* * *

><p>They have been driving for hours now, past miles and miles of nothing in the dark of the night. They...Scully and Mulder, oops...small correction, the most annoying, inconvenient and disgusting man that ever stepped into this world, if that's even possible, named Morris Fletcher who was trapped in Mulder's body. They were going to secretly meet the real Mulder, no, Scully was going to meet the real Mulder, the one that was now unfortunately living inside Morris Fletcher's body. So damn lucky. She obviously didn't know much about this Morris, and honestly, she didn't even want to, though in the past few days she had observed, and why not say como to hate, some of his personality aspects. He was nothing at all like Mulder, actually the "yelling" alone difference was enough to grab her attention to the fact that something was really, really wrong...this and several phone calls from a persuasive man claiming to be the real Mulder. For sure, persuasion was one of Mulder's gifts. She knew that she wasn't dealing with another one of Mulder's breakdowns, he was certainly not using drugs or alcohol, well the latter, at least, not enough to explain his weird behavior.<p>

Their trip was suprisingly silent. Morris wasn't exactly a man of few words, he was always finding different ways of annoying or embarassing her, though this time he seemed to be thoughtful, probably not as worried and desperated as she was, but there were certainly some thoughts crossing that empty little mind. She was thoughtful too, but more than that, she was scared to death. Frightened with the possibility of not having the real Mulder next to her anymore. By this time, she already knew she was in love with him, she adored him, even though sometimes he could be as much annoying and stubborn as Morris, she loved every little part of his personality, and she wouldn't change a thing, maybe only his amazing ability of getting into trouble. He was actually getting pretty good at finding trouble, but she was getting even better at saving him every time, except this time it was harder. As she watched every hope, every single possibility of having him back vanishing away, her heart broke into pieces once more, though she had to keep her strength and her faith, for him, for her...for them. She was always the last one standing, she wouldn't want it to suddenly change.

She could already see Mulder, in Morris' figure, standing alone in the dark, slowly being illuminated by their car headlights. Even though he didn't look like himself, somehow she could still feel him, and as the car approached to the place where he was standing, her half broken heart started its regular response when he's simply around her, it started beating slightly faster.

He was standing only about twenty feet away from where the car was parked, though that walk towards him seemed like a thousand miles and the cold desert wind only made the whole process even worse. It wasn't hard to make Morris stay in the car, although he seemed to have more on his mind than usual, he didn't seem too shaken by the situation, he definitely didn't look too concerned about fixing it, which only made Scully hate him even more. _How bad can a person hate his own life to desire someone else's so much? _She kept thinking it to herself. _Suicide would be a better option given the circunstances._

As she walked towards him, she could feel that Mulder was following each her movements. She finally stopped right in front of him, looking curiously at him. He instantly started to talk.

"You don't look too happy. Don't tell me I'm going to have to put two kids through school". He sounded really disappointed, maybe a little hopeless or even worried, which wasn't exactly his normal behavior, considering his huge crush on danger. However it seemed like a regular Mulder comment. He had this amazing ability of joking around even during extreme situations, and could anything be more extreme than this? Somehow, that made her feel slightly relieved, just to find little evidence of his own personality trapped in somebody else's body. She was desperately searching for him, making an effort to just recognize him through someone else's eyes. She was hesitant to ask, trying to find any guts left inside her. He could feel that she was staring questioningly at him, and that made him feel uncomfortable, increasing his sadness and desperation.

"That is you in there, Mulder, isn't it?" She had several hints that it was him, but most of all, she could feel that it was actually him, still she felt a need to confirm it anyway.

He just nodded sadly.

He noticed that she hugged herself, which usually indicated that she was preparing herself to start a speech.

"I, uh... I just got off the phone with Frohike. They were able to download and analyze the crash data and, yes, there was an anomaly that night". It was hard for her to just put the words together, as much as she wanted to look tough, it definitely wasn't the time and Mulder could feel her fear.

"And how do I get back?". Of all the questions and answers in their conversation, this was probably the only one actually mattered. Its answer even more so.

"Well, that's just it. It's all about random moments in time... About a series of variables approaching an event horizon. And even if we... could recreate that moment if we could sabotage another craft... Mulder, if we were... If we were off... If the event were off by even one millisecond...". Her fear was even more evident in this last explanation. Now Mulder's hopes were rapidly vanishing away.

"I might wind up with my head in a rock". He completed her sentence.

"Something like that, yeah". She agreed with him, though opted to remain vague.

There was a long pause between them, their usual telepathic silence.

"Mulder...you really screwed things up this time, you know that, don't you?". She said running her hands through her hair.

"Yeah...I know, and I'm very, very sorry, Scully". He had that little boy expression on his face, as if he was apologizing for being naughty. He was, indeed.

There was one more little silence between them, and he just turned to face Morris sitting in the car.

"What about him? I mean, me. Whatever. Whoever he is".

"Well...Agent Mulder has become AD Kersh's new golden boy. He's been tasked with returning the flight data recorder that he and I stole. The son of a bitch confesses to Kersh even more than I do to my priest. I'm just tagging along for the ride".

"What do you mean, "just tagging along"?". He didn't get it.

"I'm out of the Bureau. He exposed me, I took all the blame and as a punishment, I've been censured and relieved of my position".

"No. You can explain it to them like you explained it to me. You have the data. You can make them understand. You can get your job back". There was desperation in his voice and it made her see once again that he was doubtlessly Mulder. The fact was that Mulder's response was completely different from Morris'. Mulder would never expose her, much less let her take all the blame by herself, and his sympathy would never be fake at all.

"God! I miss you so much! You have no idea. This..this is insane, beyond absurd. The truth is that I am terrified with the idea of not having the real you nearby anymore". She was looking at him with affection, spitting out all of the words that had seemed to be stuck in her throat. Mulder could see that there were honest tears filling up her pretty blue eyes.

"I miss you too...desperately". That was all he could say, he was too surprised and amazed at her beautiful words. He felt the same way.

Then, she started to walk slowly towards him, getting closer and closer. Those eyes filled up with tears and her sadness was torturing him, devastating him. So, she gently placed her tiny hands on his face, looking intensely through his sad eyes. As one single lonely tear started to stream down her face, she didn't hesitate as she placed a kiss onto his mouth.

He froze. He couldn't even respond to the kiss, as much as he wanted to. It wasn't a passionate kiss, no tongues involved, though it was real, honest and meaningful. The kind that seemed to scream 'I love you'. All his doubts concerning her feelings for him, now were clear. And he couldn't love anyone else so purely as he loved her, not even himself. Time seemed to stop, though reality always insists in pushing us back.

"Hey baby, so you do like my looks, huh? Can't wait until I'm back again!" They could heard another incovenient comment from Morris, being yelled from the car window.

Scully totally ignored Morris's comment, as she broke the kiss. Mulder didn't say anything either.

"Scully...this is not me, uh...I mean, it is, but I don't look like me".

"You're right, you don't look like you, but you're still the same on the inside, and...and that's all that matters to me".

They smiled at each other.

It didn't take long before they suffered another 'Morris attack'. He honked the horn and yelled once again from the car window.

"Take a picture! It'll last longer". He was getting extremely impatient with the length of time that their conversation was lasting.

This time, Scully couldn't stand anymore and in a moment of pure rage she showed to him her middle finger, which was a gesture that Mulder found genuinely surprising.

"Scully, it's amazing the way that you keep surprising me". He smiled at her then glanced over at the car.

"If I... shoot him is that murder or suicide?" He asked her honestly through gritted teeth.

"Neither, if I do it first". She answered looking at the car.

"Mulder...I gotta go. I have some hard work to do to get you back to me". She said as she wiped the remaining tears from her face and eyes. After actually saying it, she realized that she said 'back to me', which might had given a selfish idea. _Honesty control would be a very good idea right now!_

"I really wish you didn't have to". He said, still looking at her with affection.

"Yeah...me too. Look what's waiting for me". She sadly returned her gaze to the car as she spoke.

She turned to face Mulder again, gently squeezed his arm and started to walk towards the car.

He stopped her.

"Hey, Scully..."

Mulder started to walk in her direction. He held out his closed hand to her, as she held out her palm. He poured a handful of sunflower seeds into her hand. She just looked at him. Then, he took one back and put it in his mouth. This was a meaningful gesture for her, the kind of seemed to scream 'I love you too'.

He didn't want her to leave, and she neither did she.

"One more thing...". She said before daring to continue her way back to the car.

"Mulder, now do you get what I mean, when I said that I wanted a little bit of normality?" She said teasing him about their previous conversation, the one that they were having before the incident.

"Yeah...I do, you're right. And I promise you that I'll try to stay out of trouble".

"No you don't. It's OK, I'm used to it, but please, promise me that you're going to come back as soon as possible. As long as you find your own little bit of trouble without changing yourself, I'm good with it". She gave him a smile.

Once again, another 'Morris attack', he actually seemed to pick their best moments together, his only purpose being to ruin them completely. Since she was now a little closer to the car, the sound of his voice was unbearably annoying.

"Hurry up, baby! It's not like this 'War and Peace' conversation is going to solve our situation!"

"God! I'm such a lucky girl!" She said to herself, looking with disgust at Morris.

"Does he call you 'baby', Scully?"

"Yeah...I warned him, I've even pointed my gun in his face, but nothing seems to work". She said it as she started to walk again, this time a little faster.

"See you later..baby!" She heard Mulder saying.

"See you...soon I hope". She looked back at him and smiled.

She continued to walk towards the car, her heart already broken into a million pieces. He just sadly stared as she walked away.

- The End -


End file.
